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Arizona reported 1,735 new COVID-19 cases and 54 new known deaths on Saturday as hospitalizations for the disease continued to drop.

The state’s overall COVID-19 death and case rates since since Jan. 21, 2020, remain among the worst in the country.

The COVID-19 death rate in Arizona since the pandemic began was 222 deaths per 100,000 people as of Friday, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID Data Tracker, putting it sixth in the country in a state ranking that separates New York City from New York state. The U.S. average was 156 deaths per 100,000 people as of Friday, the CDC said.

New York City had the highest death rate, at 353 deaths per 100,000 people. After that followed New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Mississippi.

The state’s case rate since the pandemic began also ranked sixth nationwide as of Friday.

Arizona’s seven-day case rate per 100,000 people ranked 26th Friday among all states, after ranking first and second for much of January, according to the CDC.

The state’s seven-day death rate per 100,000 people ranked eighth in the nation as of Friday, per the CDC. 

Arizona’s newly reported 54 deaths brought the known COVID-19 death count to 16,323. The state surpassed 16,000 deaths on Tuesday after passing 15,000 deaths on Feb. 17, 14,000 deaths on Feb. 6 and 13,000 deaths on Jan. 29, just one week after it passed 12,000 and two weeks after 11,000 deaths. The state exceeded 10,000 known deaths on Jan. 9. Arizona’s first known death from the disease occurred in mid-March.

Many of the deaths occurred days or weeks prior, due to reporting delays and death certificate matching.

In slightly more than one year since the first case was announced in Arizona, a total of 825,119 COVID-19 cases have been identified across the state. February and March have seen relatively lower case reports, although Friday’s report marked the highest number of new cases added in one day since Feb. 12. 

The Arizona data dashboard shows 85% of all ICU beds and 89% of all inpatient beds in the state were in use Wednesday, with 16% of ICU beds and 11% of non-ICU beds occupied by COVID-19 patients. Statewide, 263 ICU beds and 952 non-ICU beds were available.

Hospitalizations for the disease have been dropping for over seven weeks but remain at relatively high levels. 

The total number of patients hospitalized in Arizona for known or suspected COVID-19 cases was at 966 on Friday, down from Thursday’s 1,043 and far below the record 5,082 inpatients on Jan. 11. By comparison, the highest number of COVID-19 hospitalizations in a single day during the summer surge was 3,517 on July 13.

The number of patients with suspected or known COVID-19 in ICUs across Arizona was at  280 on Friday, down from 325 on Thursday, and far below the record high of 1,183 on Jan. 11. During the summer surge in mid-July, ICU beds in use for COVID-19 peaked at 970.

Arizonans with confirmed and suspected COVID-19 on ventilators tallied 140 on Friday, down from 154 on Thursday and well below the record high 821 reached on Jan. 13. During the summer surge, July 16 was the peak day for ventilator use, with 687 patients.

Friday saw 901 patients in the emergency room for COVID-19, well below the Dec. 29 single-day record of 2,341 positive or suspected COVID-19 patients seen in emergency departments across the state.

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Percent positivity, which refers to the percent of COVID-19 diagnostic tests that are positive, has been declining but varies somewhat based on how it’s measured.

Last week, Arizona’s percent positivity was 7% after being at 9% for the two weeks prior, according to the state, which has a unique way of calculating percent positivity. Percent positivity was between 4% and 6% for much of August, September and October, according to state data.

Johns Hopkins University calculates Arizona’s seven-day moving average of percent positives at 3.8% as of Saturday. It shows the state’s percent positivity peaked at 24.2% in December.

A positivity rate of 5% or less is considered a good benchmark that the spread of the disease is under control.

Arizona began its first COVID-19 vaccinations for Phase 1A the week of Dec. 14, but the process has moved slowly because of limited vaccine supply. Registration is open in counties for priority or all Phase 1B individuals and in most places for those 65 and older, and the state recently switched to a partly age-based rollout so those 55 and older will start to be eligible at state sites and in some counties.

More than 1.3 million people statewide had received at least one vaccine dose as of Saturday, with about 738,000 people fully vaccinated against COVID-19 with two doses, state data show. 

What to know about Saturday’s numbers

Reported cases in Arizona: 825,119

Cases since the outbreak began increased by 1,735, or 0.21%, from Friday’s 823,384 identified cases. These daily cases are grouped by the date they are reported to the Arizona Department of Health Services, not by the date the tests were administered. 

Cases by county: 515,211 in Maricopa, 110,345 in Pima, 46,848 in Pinal, 36,551 in Yuma, 21,375 in Mohave, 17,956 in Yavapai, 16,728 in Coconino, 15,740 in Navajo, 11,310 in Cochise, 10,655 in Apache, 7,652 in Santa Cruz, 6,418 in Gila, 5,317 in Graham, 2,453 in La Paz and 560 in Greenlee, according to state numbers.

The rate of cases per 100,000 people since the pandemic began is highest in Yuma County, followed by Apache, Santa Cruz, Navajo and Graham counties, per state data. The rate in Yuma County is 15,895 cases per 100,000 people. By comparison, the U.S. average rate since the pandemic began is 8,629 cases per 100,000 people as of Friday, according to the CDC.

The Navajo Nation reported 29,838 cases and 1,195 confirmed deaths in total as of Thursday. The Navajo Nation includes parts of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah. Tribal leaders halted weekend lockdowns after Jan. 25, although a stay-at-home order and nightly curfew remained in effect. 

The Arizona Department of Corrections reported 12,033 inmates had tested positive for COVID-19 as of Friday, including 2,240 in Tucson, 2,009 in Eyman, 2,008 in Yuma, 1,302 in Lewis and 1,163 in Douglas; 43,621 inmates statewide have been tested. A total of 2,699 prison staff members have self-reported testing positive, the department said. Thirty-five incarcerated people in Arizona have been confirmed to have died of COVID-19, with 19 additional deaths under investigation.

Race/ethnicity is unknown for 18% of all COVID-19 cases statewide, but 37% of positive cases have been in white people, 30% Hispanic or Latino, 5% are Native American, 3% are Black and 1% are Asian/Pacific Islander.

Of those who have tested positive in Arizona since the start of the pandemic, 16% were younger than 20, 44% were 20-44, 15% were 45-54, 12% were 55-64 and 13% were over age 65.

Laboratories have completed 3,828,089 diagnostic tests on unique individuals for COVID-19, 14.3% of which have come back positive. That number includes both PCR and antigen testing. The percentage of positive tests had increased since mid-May but began decreasing in July and held steady around 4% for several weeks, per the state. It was at 7% for the last full week. The state numbers leave out data from labs that do not report electronically.

The Arizona Department of Health Services includes probable cases as anyone with a positive antigen test, another type of test to determine current infection. Antigen tests (not related to antibody tests) are a newer type of COVID-19 diagnostic test that uses a nasal swab or another fluid sample to test for current infection. Results are typically produced within 15 minutes. 

A positive antigen test result is considered very accurate, but there’s an increased chance of false-negative results, the Mayo Clinic says. Depending on the situation, Mayo Clinic officials say a doctor may recommend a PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test to confirm a negative antigen test result. 

Reported deaths in Arizona: 16,323

Deaths by county: 9,314 in Maricopa, 2,261 in Pima, 799 in Yuma, 792 in Pinal, 655 in Mohave, 505 in Navajo, 473 in Yavapai, 394 in Apache, 315 in Coconino, 270 in Cochise, 218 in Gila, 170 in Santa Cruz, 75 in Graham, 72 in La Paz and 10 in Greenlee. 

People age 65 and older make up 12,239 of the 16,323 deaths, or 75%. Following that, 15% of deaths were in the 55-64 age group, 6% were 45-54 and 4% were 20-44 years old.

While race/ethnicity was unknown for 7% of deaths, 49% of those who died were white, 29% were Hispanic or Latino, 8% were Native American, 3% were Black and 1% were Asian/Pacific Islander, the state data show.

The global death toll as of Saturday morning was 2,582,192 and the U.S. had the highest death count of any country in the world, at 522,872 according to Johns Hopkins University. Arizona’s death total of 16,269 deaths represents 3.1% of COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. as of Saturday.

Reach the reporter at [email protected] or 602-444-8529.  Follow her on Twitter @brieannafrank

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